Homemade Laundry Detergent

So this would be the blog post where I share the wonderful recipe that I have found for making my own laundry detergent.  I got my recipe here and found the money saving details here.  Most regular detergents like Tide or Arm and Hammer detergent will cost around .21 cents per load.  Homemade recipes are estimated anywhere from .02-.05 cents per load.  A pretty great savings if you ask me.

Here's the visuals.  To make a batch of your own homemade laundry detergent, you will need the following ingredients.  

First, you will need Borax.  Pretty self explanatory.  I love that it's natural and by itself is recommended for removing stains and working to neutralize odors.  I bought this box for around $3.50 and it can be found at almost any grocery store in the area.

Secondly, Washing Soda.  I prefer the "Super" kind.  Again, it's another natural product, so if you're into that sort of thing, this is the recipe for you.  This box also runs around $3.50 in any local grocery store.

Finally, Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap.  It's good.  And I personally like how it smells fresh and clean, and it also makes your clothes smell the same way.  I get this soap from Walmart, and it's a grand total of .97 cents per bar.  In a pinch, I've also used a funny Colgate Octagon Laundry Bar that I found at the King Kullen.  Both bars work very well, but I personally prefer the Fels-Naptha. 

So here goes.  To make the mixture, the first thing that you need to do is grate the bar of soap down.  The first time I made this recipe, I spent a good 30 minutes using the small side of a cheese grater.  Granted, it took awhile, but the whole time I told myself it was worth it to save the money.  In all honesty, it wasn't much fun.  However, since then, I've found a much easier way to grate the soap down.

Enter in, the Presto Salad Shooter 0291001.  When I was young, I remember my Mom using this gem to grate cheese for taco night.  It worked like a charm then, and amazingly still does.  After my first grating fiasco, when I was trying to figure out what might work better, I had these vague memories of the salad shooter.  So I called my Mom up, who promptly dug it out from the hidden recesses of her cupboards and when she came to visit the next month, she gave it to me to use.  It's a bit loud, but works incredibly well.

Ah, memory lane.  Moving along, once you grate up the soap, strangely, it will look quite similar to shredded cheese. 

 I then take a big knife and just chop it all up, Rachel Ray style.... you know, where you hold down the tip of the knife with the palm of your hand and kind of rock it back and forth quite a few times, till you have a nice even mixture.

Take the finely grated bar of laundry soap and add in 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda.  

Mix it together well, and you're done.  You'll use 1 to 2 tablespoons of the detergent per load of laundry (1 for regular sized loads and 2 for larger or more heavily soiled loads).

I'm pleased to say that I've been using this recipe for the past few months and have been extremely happy with the results.  I was a huge Tide advocate last year, but am looking forward to the huge savings that I will have by making my own laundry soap.  It works well and smells good and I hope this little tutorial has helped.